If you are a Florida homeowner facing foreclosure, you may not be thinking about the long-term economy. But Roy Oppenheim, a Florida foreclosure defense attorney, sees the big picture and how it relates to the foreclosure crisis.

Oppenheim offered Florida homeowners his insights on the economy in a recent interview on the talk show “Mind of Money” with Asset Protection Attorney Douglass Lodmell.

As Oppenheim sees it, Florida homeowners—whether they are in a foreclosure crisis or not—have to recognize that the current state of the economy is the new norm. There isn’t going to a rapid change in today’s economy.

“We need to look at what happened in Japan with the lost decade. This could be a lost generation,” Oppenheim says. “I’m not trying to scare people, but you need to understand that the Federal Reserve throwing $600 billion into the economy to prevent it from deflating further suggests that there are real serious problems with this economy.”

What is the way out? Oppenheim offered three possible paths Florida homeowners should be aware of as they make decisions about foreclosure defense strategies. The U.S. could opt for any of these three strategies:

1. The Third World Approach: Inflating the U.S. dollar so that Florida homeowners have more money, debt is worth less and easier to pay off, but real estate is worth more. Oppenheim says this is the current direction the government is taking.

2. Open the Borders: Allowing immigrants who can invest $250,000 or more into the economy to settle here. If upper middle class people from around the world come to America, it will create a demand for products and services.Continue reading→

“The bank crisis is a wonderful opportunity to literally engage the bank in hand to hand combat. There’s an old expression that says to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You need to bring the bank to you,” Oppenheim says.

Engage the bank like you would engage the enemy.

“Once you’ve engaged the bank, you can then attack them on their fraudulent documentation, if there is any. And more importantly you can engage them to do a short sale, a loan modification or a deed in lieu of foreclosure, or maybe a restructured foreclosure. There are many options.”

Of course, Oppenheim says, before you engage the bank you need to assemble a foreclosure defense team. The good news is the bank is usually willing to negotiate. Oppenheim says banks understand it could take 18 to 20 months—at a price tag of about $1,000 a month—to carry a piece of property that’s in foreclosure. The bank also risks sanctions for any illegal activity with the mortgage. Oppenheim says it’s in the bank’s best interest to find some sort of workout.

What if? The dreaded deficiency judgment.

“At the end of the day, our end game is to make sure that at all costs there is not a deficiency judgment against our clients.” None of our clients that we have defended from the beginning have had a deficiency judgment entered against them. “That may change. If we exhaust all options, we would consider bankruptcy.”Continue reading→